Dried Apricots vs Dried Prunes – Which is Healthier?

Our Verdict

When comparing dried apricots to prunes, we picked the apricots.

Why?

First, let’s talk hydration. We’ve described both of these as “dried”, but prunes are by default dried plums, usually partially rehydrated. So, for fairness, on the other side of things we’re also looking at dried apricots, partially rehydrated. Otherwise, it would look (mass for mass or volume for volume) like one is seriously outstripping the other even if some metric were actually equal, just because of water-weight in one and not the other.

Illustrative example: consider, for example, that the sugar in a big bunch of grapes or a small handful of raisins can be the same, not because they magically got more sugar by some mysterious force of transmutation, but because the water was dried out, so per mass and per volume, there’s more sugar, proportionally.

Back to dried apricots and dried prunes…

You’ll often see these two next to each other in the heath food store, which is why we’re comparing them here.

Of course, if it is practical, please by all means enjoy fresh apricots and fresh plums. But we know that life is not always convenient, fruits are not in season growing in abundance in our gardens all year round, and sometimes we’re stood in the aisle of a grocery store, weighing up the dried fruit options. 

So, let’s get to it…

In terms of macros, the dried apricots have a touch more fiber while the prunes have a tiny bit more carbs, but it’s so close that most reasonably this round should be considered a tie.

In the category of vitamins, dried apricots have more of vitamins A, B3, B5, B7, B9, C, and E, while prunes have more of vitamins B1, B2, B6, and K; a clear win for apricots by strength of numbers, though it’s worth noting that the vitamin K difference is considerable (19x more vitamin K).

Looking at minerals, dried apricots have more calcium, copper, iron, potassium, and selenium, while prunes have more magnesium, manganese and zinc, yielding a 5:3 win to apricots here.

Adding up the sections makes for a clear overall win for apricots, but by all means do enjoy either or both, as diversity is best!

Want to learn more?

You might like:

Which Sugars Are Healthier, And Which Are Just The Same?

Enjoy!